Candling Eggs

This article is from the magazine Backyard Poultry By: Ron Kean, the Answer Man.

        Candling is really nothing more than shining a bright light through the egg to visualize its contents. The first important key is to work in a dark room. The next key is to have a light focused into a fairly small beam. Some people will use a small flashlight. If it's a bright one, this can work pretty well. Another method that is commonly used is to make a box with a small hole cut into it. A hole about 1 inch in diameter or smaller should work well. The box needs to be able to handle some heat. Wire a light bulb inside this box and you're set. A 40-watt bulb (or less) will work just fine. The actual candling can be done in a couple of different ways. If you're looking at partially incubated eggs (to determine fertility/viability), it's usually easiest to shine the light near the large end of the egg. You can usually see a spider web of blood vessels if there is a developing embryo. If you're looking for eating quality, you can gently spin the egg in your hand. This will causes the yolk to move inside the egg, and you can see if any dark spots are present. The yolk will look like a darker shadow, and the chalazae may be visible. These are normal. After doing a few, you'll get more familiar with normal vs. " adonormal." Most spots of blood (or tissue) in the egg will not be developing chicks. They are from the hen's body while the egg was being formed. Still, many people like to remove these. Finally, it can still be difficult to candle dark brown-shelled eggs. Gathering eggs frequently and keeping gathered eggs cool will help a great deal to prevent a "surprise" in your omelet!